The Good Know Nothing

Forget Everything I’ve Said

The title of today’s post comes from a novel of the same name written by my college professor

What does it mean for creativity?

MEMORY CULT curriculum focuses on philosophy and technique

It’s information; it’s encountered cerebrally

But a photo shoot is done with the gut

On a photo shoot, the mind is emptied of information in order to encounter experience

I have great trust in the imagination

We feed it with learning, examples, images & analysis – with reading and discussion and prompts

I ask you to strike an important balance: I want to teach you, and then on a photo shoot, I want you to forget everything I’ve said

Enjoy, Encounter, Bloom

Trust that all of the information has rained down on the soil of your imagination and gotten absorbed (this takes time)

Information can storm upon you

Information can be so scarce your sprouts dry up

Every exercise we do waters our ground; is crucial, a part of the creative life cycle

When the seeds of your work have what they need, they grow

Let them bloom

Stay loose

Enjoy

Encounter

Trust

Say fuck it and just shoot

See what happens

I guarantee it’s all adding up

I’d bet my life on it

The good know nothing